Carrying the Burden: Perspectives of African American Pastors on Peer Support for People with Cancer

For African Americans facing advanced cancer, churches are trusted sources of support and ideal settings to improve access to supportive care. The Support Team model enhances community support for practical, emotional, and spiritual caregiving. We report on focus groups with pastors of 23 Black Churches and explore their perspective on the Support Team model for church members with cancer. Pastors describe the needs of church members facing cancer from a holistic perspective and recognize opportunities for synergistic faith–health collaboration. The results of this study indicate potential benefits of the Support Team model in Black Churches to reduce silent suffering among individuals facing cancer.     

Yup’ik Culture and Context in Southwest Alaska: Community Member Perspectives of Tradition,Social Change,and Prevention

This paper provides an introduction to key aspects of Yup’ik Inuit culture and context from both historical and contemporary community member perspectives. Its purpose is to provide a framework for understanding the development and implementation of a prevention initiative centered on youth in two communities in Southwest Alaska as part of collaboration with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the National Institutes of Health. This paper is written from the perspective of elders and local prevention workers from each of the two prevention communities. The co-authors discuss their culture and their community from their own perspectives, drawing from direct experience and from ancestral knowledge gained through learning and living the Yuuyaraq or the Yup’ik way of life. The authors of this paper identity key aspects of traditional Yup’ik culture that once contributed to the adaptability and survivability of their ancestors, particularly through times of hardship and social disruption. These key processes and practices represent dimensions of culture in a Yup’ik context that contribute to personal and collective growth, protection and wellbeing. Intervention development in Yup’ik communities requires bridging historical cultural frames with contemporary contexts and shifting focus from reviving cultural activities to repairing and revitalizing cultural systems that structure community.     

The use of diabetes-specific perceived control and health belief measures to predict treatment choice and efficacy in a feasibility study of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion pumps

Abstract

In the course of a feasibility study of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion pumps, 382 insulin-requiring diabetic patients were offered a choice of CSII, intensified conventional treatment or conventional treatment. Two hundred and eighty-six (75%) patients completed newly developed diabetes-specific measures of health beliefs and attributions before any change of treatment regimen. The scales were useful predictors of patients' choice of treatment. Furthermore, they were useful in predicting efficacy of treatment in terms of glycosylated haemoglobin measures of diabetes control after one year of treatment in the study. The implications of the findings for introducing patients to new forms of treatment are discussed.     

Individual differences in executive functioning and theory of mind: An investigation of inhibitory control and planning ability

This research examined the relative contributions of two aspects of executive function-inhibitory control and planning ability-to theory of mind in 49 3- and 4-year-olds. Children were given two standard theory of mind measures (Appearance-Reality and False Belief), three inhibitory control tasks (Bear/Dragon, Whisper, and Gift Delay), three planning tasks (Tower of Hanoi, Truck Loading, and Kitten Delivery), and a receptive vocabulary test (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test [PPVT-3]). Multiple regression analyses indicated that two inhibition tasks (Bear/Dragon and Whisper) were significantly related to theory of mind after accounting for age, receptive vocabulary, and planning. In contrast, the planning tasks did not share unique variance with theory of mind. These results increase our understanding of the specific nature of executive function-theory of mind relations during early childhood.     

Pastoral care following pregnancy loss: the role of ritual

The authors propose a model for different ways in which clergy of diverse denominations ritualize pregnancy loss through excerpts from 23 interviews with Chicago-area religious leaders. These clergy either do not ritualize pregnancy loss at all, adapt existing rituals, or create new ones.     

The use of brief restraint plus reinforcement to treat self-injurious behavior

This study evaluated the use of brief arm restraint plus differential reinforcement of alternative behavior to treat the self-injurious behavior of two residents with multiple handicaps and profound mental retardation. The study took place in a nursing home and sessions were conducted for 15 minutes, Monday through Friday. The design contained both multiple baseline and reversal components. Mean levels of self-injurious behavior and stripping for one client were reduced from 92 to 16% and 81 to 2%, respectively, by the treatment. Her appropriate behavior increased from a mean of 18% in baseline to 100% in treatment. The second client's self-injurious behavior averaged 39% in baseline, but was reduced to a mean of 9% in treatment. His throwing decreased from a mean of 54% prior to treatment to a mean of 2%, while appropriate object manipulation increased from 26 to 99%. These data support the use of brief restraint plus reinforcement for decelerating severe self-injurious behaviors and accelerating appropriate behaviors in adults with profound mental retardation. The advantages of this treatment are that it appears to be less intrusive and to offer more educational benefits than other commonly used techniques.     

Age-related differences in cardiovascular reactions to mental stress tests in women

Tested 84 healthy, sedentary women in the laboratory during performance of difficult and easy problem-solving tasks. They were divided into three age groups: 19 to 32 years, 33 to 43 years, and 44 to 60 years (n = 28 women per group). Baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure increased with age, whereas skin conductance level was lower in older women. In addition, initial SBP reactions to tasks were positively related to age, even after controlling for baseline blood pressure, aerobic fitness, and Framingham Type A Scale behavior scores. There were no differences in heart rate (HR) or "additional" HR reactions, so the anticipated decline in cardiac sympathetic response with age was not observed. The mechanisms underlying age-related reactions to mental stress are discussed.     

A competency-based curriculum for training middle-level community—clinical psychologists

The focus of this paper is to delineate the basic skills that might be appropriate for a community--clinical psychologist.. The need for competent professionals to deliver mental health services has exceeded the capacity of existing training programs. Current training emphasis is aimed at providing a community--clinical psychologist on the middle level who would have a set of skills or competencies that would easily identify him as a psychologist     

Arm-movement responses to Müller-Lyer stimuli

Similarities between eye- and arm-movement patterns during the Müller-Lyer illusion were investigated. The study was designed to find out if characteristics of a visual illusion would be reflected in tracings of an unseen ann. Six stimuli, three experimental and three control, were presented five times to each of seven Ss who were familiar with the illusion. Data were analyzed by measuring lengths of tracings and by making intraindividual comparisons using t tests for correlated means. Results for the arm were similar to those reported elsewhere for the eye. Arrows with outward-directed obliques were traced longer than arrows with inward-directed obliques, as well as longer than control stimuli. Agreement between eye- and arm-movement responses to the illusion lend support for using each technique to investigate stimuli that affect man’s distance metric.